[Event "Washington Open - Adult Section"] [White "Harwood"] [Black "Wentz, Austin"] [Site "Redmond"] [Round "2"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2024.11.30"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "1872"] [BlackElo "1604"] [PlyCount "85"] [GameId "2117893075866591"] [EventDate "2024.09.22"] [EventType "game"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,85,9,25,27,-6,2,-9,-4,-14,-2,-7,17,-1,0,12,9,-39,9,-1,11,-1,-8,4,-7,0,-121,0,19,-3,-130,-3,2,14,15,40,22,22,45,-1,89,159,100,12,-34,51,83,-11,32,5,4,-3,-14,-63,3,34,161,179,222,275,255,378,254,212,216,225,246,247,272,277,271,320,316,344,327,208,67,224,343,272,235,268,282,284,503,468,502,558]} 1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e6 6. O-O Nge7 7. c3 O-O 8. Be3 $6 {Usually the bishop waits to be deployed. d4 should be played first.} ({Just the normal} 8. d4 {made the most sense but for some reason I wanted to reinforce this move with Be3.} cxd4 9. cxd4 d5 10. e5 f6 (10... Nf5 11. Nc3 f6 12. Re1 Qb6 13. Na4 Qc7 14. Bf4 g5 15. exf6 gxf4 16. fxg7 Qxg7 17. Nc5 Nfxd4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Nd3 f3 20. Bf1 Bd7 21. Ne5 Nc6 22. Nxf3 $11) 11. Re1 fxe5 12. dxe5 Rf5 13. Nc3 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Rxe5 15. Rxe5 Bxe5 16. Bg5 $11) 8... d6 {Now black has the option of e5 to lock down the center and taking the game in a different direction.} 9. d4 (9. Na3 e5 10. Qd2 f5 11. Nh4 Be6 (11... Bf6 {White should not worry about the capture on h4 as it opens up the g-file and gives white the bishop pair.} 12. f4 Bxh4 $6 13. gxh4 Be6 14. fxe5 Nxe5 15. Bg5 fxe4 16. Rxf8+ Qxf8 17. dxe4 N7c6 18. Rf1 Nf7 $14) 12. f4 Qc7 13. Nf3) 9... cxd4 10. cxd4 d5 11. e5 Nf5 12. Qd2 ({I considered the developing move} 12. Nc3 {but was worried about} Nxe3 13. fxe3 {[%csl Re3] and the weakness on e3. Turns out this is not a problem.} Bd7 (13... Bh6 14. Qd2 Bd7 15. h4 f6 16. exf6 Rxf6 17. Rae1 Qb6 18. a3 Rd8 19. Ng5 $11) 14. h4 Qe7 15. a3 f6 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Kh2 Rad8 18. Rc1 $11) 12... Nxe3 13. Qxe3 Qb6 14. Qd2 ({Stockfish likes the idea of sacrificing the b2 pawn with} 14. Nc3 {I initially rejected this move because I couldn't find a way to trap the queen after Qxb2.} Qxb2 15. Rab1 Qa3 16. Nxd5 $1 {That's what I missed. Ne7 doesn't work of course but Black's queen is hanging.} Qxe3 17. Nxe3 Rd8 18. Rfd1 Bf8 19. Ng5 Kg7 20. Ne4 Rxd4 21. Rxd4 Nxd4 22. Rd1 Nc6 23. f4 $11) 14... f6 {[#]For a 1600, my opponent is playing quite well. Over the board, I felt he had a nice advantage but Stockfish says the position is just equal.} 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Rd1 $8 Bd7 (16... g5 $5 {to dislodge the f3 knight and win the d4 pawn.} 17. h3 Qc7 18. b4 $5 {one wing pawn thrust deserves another.} a6 19. Na3 Qg7 20. Nc2 h5 21. a4 g4 22. hxg4 hxg4 23. Nh2 Bd7 $11) 17. Nc3 Rad8 (17... Rae8 {preparing e5 makes more sense, but he probably wanted to indirectly protect d5.}) 18. Na4 Qc7 19. Rac1 Qd6 20. Nc5 Bc8 21. a3 Bg7 22. Qe3 b6 23. Na4 $6 (23. Nd3 Rxf3 24. Bxf3 Nxd4 25. Bg4 Bd7 26. f4 $14 {[%csl Ge5,Re6][%CAl Gd3e5,Gf4e5]}) (23. Nb3 $11) 23... Bb7 24. b4 ({Better to bring the knight back into play with} 24. Nc3 e5 25. Nb5 Qf6 26. dxe5 Nxe5 27. Qxe5 Qxe5 28. Nxe5 Bxe5 29. b3 a5 30. Nc7 Bxc7 31. Rxc7 Rf7 32. Rdc1 $11) 24... e5 25. dxe5 Nxe5 26. Nd4 $6 $17 {I thought this was a good move as taking on e5 risked d4 and the opening of Black's b7 bishop. Not a problem says Stockfish - just equal.} (26. Nxe5 Qxe5 27. Qxe5 Bxe5 28. h4 Rfe8 29. f4 Bg7 30. Rc7 $11) 26... Rfe8 (26... Kh8 $5 {An interesting idea to get the king off of the a2-g8 diagonal which, ironically, becomes a problem for my opponent in just a few moves.}) 27. Qb3 Ba6 $4 {My opponent's first and most serious blunder in the game.} 28. b5 $2 ({More precise was} 28. Nc6 $1 Bc4 29. Rxc4 dxc4 30. Rxd6 Rxd6 31. Qc2 $18) 28... Bb7 29. Nc6 $18 Bxc6 30. bxc6 Kh8 31. Rxd5 Qc7 32. Rxd8 Rxd8 33. Qe6 Nf7 34. h4 Nd6 35. Nc3 Re8 36. Qg4 (36. Nb5 Rxe6 (36... Qxc6 37. Rxc6 Rxe6 38. Nxd6 $18) 37. Nxc7 Re2 38. Rd1 Bf8 39. a4 $18) 36... Qc8 37. Qxc8 Rxc8 38. a4 Bd4 39. Nb5 Nxb5 40. axb5 Be5 41. Rd1 Bb8 42. Bh3 Rf8 43. Rd7 {[%EOG]} {Black resigns.} 1-0